The Future's Bright for Watkins Steel

BRISBANE-BASED WATKINS STEEL HAS TAKEN THE ART OF STEEL FABRICATION TO THE NEXT LEVEL BY EMBRACING ADVANCED ROBOTICS AND THE LATEST 3D TECHNOLOGY, AND IT ALSO OFFERS STEEL DETAILING AND 3D LASER SCANNING. IT IS NO SURPRISE THEREFORE THAT THE COMPANY’S SERVICES ARE INCREASINGLY IN DEMAND FROM CUSTOMERS IN THE BUILDING, MINING, AND CONSTRUCTION SECTORS, NOT JUST LOCALLY BUT RECENTLY ALSO FROM AS FAR AFIELD AS THE STATES AND INDONESIA.

Managing Director, Des Watkins, pinpoints when expansion really took off. “we got our first line of robotics back in 2014, and augmented this with software and further digitisation of the business. This led to a trajectory of growth of 20% year on year since then, and this last year we’ve grown by a staggering 50%.”

This meant that the company needed to address the logistics of moving steel in the most efficient way. As Des pointed out, “the robotics themselves are fantastic in terms of speed, but they are only as good as how quickly they can be fed with material. When we increased the size of our factory and added more lines of robotics we knew that we couldn’t just rely on our overhead cranes or frontloader forklifts any more.”

Des credits investigative trips to Europe which initially alerted him and colleagues to the capabilities of the Combilift range of multidirectional forklifts. “I don’t think that was the first time that our Production Manager Matt Hunter had seen a Combilift, but when I saw it, it was like an epiphany and I could see the benefits straight away. So we invested in a C8000 model with a triplex 4.8m mast which can get under low doorways and a C4000 4t capacity truck. We also use a compact, counterbalance design multidirectional CB3000 with a 4.9 triplex mast and we have another C4000 on order.” According to Des, the big issue with steel fabrication is to reduce the number of man hours per tonne of fabrication, so speed is of the essence when moving steel around. And when you are dealing with beams that can be 12,15 or 18m in length this adds an additional challenge. In this respect the Combilifts dovetail perfectly into their operation; four-way ability and sideway travel enables a minimal turning circle and almost limitless movement around the factory.

When delivery trucks arrive on site, the Combilifts’ ability to quickly offload them and move material to where it is required avoids bottlenecks and backlogs. It's also not just Watkins’ own products that the Combilifts handle, but also steel that is to be processed or galvanised for other fabricators and merchants. Overall volumes can total around 1,000t per month—quite a hefty workload for the Combilifts.

Watkins Steel is in the process of adding to its current factory footprint in Brisbane and will soon operate from a facility that is 7,500m² and 220m in length, so again efficient movement of steel in this area will also be crucial – but Des is confident of the outcome. “When we moved a facility from Banyo which was 2,500m² to Northgate where there was a footprint of 4,000m² we added an aisle in the middle of the factory with bays either side and we increased efficiency by 30%. Most of this is down to the Combilifts’ attributes such as manouevrability and speedy operation.”

Choosing which models are best for Watkins’ requirements is a very democratic process. Des freely admits that he leaves these decisions completely up to those at the sharp end of the handling procedures. This has proved to be a very astute decision as the production manager and the drivers all love the Combilifts. Des sums up: “With the new lines of robotics coming next year we are planning to shake this industry up – and I couldn’t be more excited about it!”